Advertisements play a significant role in e-commerce and the Internet industry in general. The typical commercial web site includes many advertisements, each competing for consumer attention. “Consumer” and “user” are used throughout this specification to refer to anyone who uses the subject computer network, e.g. the Internet. “Advertisement” or “ad” as used herein refers to any information intended to convey to a user an impression of a product, service, or the source thereof. An ad may be any promotional or commercial message. “Advertisers” refers to entities providing advertisement, merchants, service providers, and other commercial entities.
Advertisers use various tactics to attract a user's attention and response. Tactics include large text fonts, and unusual colors, flashing graphics, video and sound clips. Some advertisements include applets, scripts, HTML or the like to cause the presentation of a short program or to present the advertisement in a separate window. Primary forms of advertising on the web are banner ads and pop up ads. Banner and pop-up ads may be static or animated. Some ads utilize streaming video.
Another Internet marketing tool is an opt-in e-mail scheme where marketing materials are e-mailed to the consumer only after the consumer has given permission or requested to receive materials from the sender. The promotions may be from the sender or any entity having entered an agreement with the sender to use the consumer e-mail list. Although the consumer consented to receiving promotions via e-mail, many e-mails are treated as junk mail and deleted without being read. Accordingly, this type of advertising is generally not effective. However, messages from a source of high interest to the consumer stand a better chance of getting read.
Many web site managers use media placement services or on-line ad agencies, which are third parties who place advertisements on the web site. Advertisements presented through web sites utilize a broadcasting marketing model because the advertisements reach a large audience. Such advertisements are often priced on the basis of CPM (cost per thousand) viewers. Under this model, advertisements are only generally targeted by placing the ad on sites likely or known to be frequented by a prescribed population segment, e.g. a certain age group or interest group.
While advertisements presented on the Internet may be exposed to a vast audience, a large percentage of that audience is not interested in the advertisement. Many consumers consider the advertisements as an intrusion in the activity they are engaged in while on the Internet.
What remains needed is a method for delivering information to the consumer through a targeted forum. What is further needed is more efficient method of disseminating advertisements and other information over the Internet to consumers that have indicated a high interest in the subject matter of the ad.